Denham, the gateway to Monkey Mia - May 5th...

In the morning we woke early to get in some fishing before the flies awoke, Riley and Bell decided to get in some dawn photography lessons and capture some images of Whalebone bay.  By 830 we were off to Denham just 33 km up the road.   It was a matter of minutes and we were arriving at our new Caravan park, this time it was the Blue Dolphin caravan park, just meters from the beach again. We setup our van and to our surprise (enjoyment) no flies!. We embarked on a search for supplies (IGA Supermarket) and a bottle shop and returned to relax for the rest of the day where Belinda carried out some School lessons with Riley and Aiden. By 5pm it was time for a BBQ and Riley and Aiden met their new best friend, Eskill aged 4 from Switzerland, he was accompanied by his parents, Simone and Remo, they were 1/2 way thru their 8 week whirlwind tour of OZ in a camper van, they joined us for a BBQ (rissoles and salad) and then a few cleansing ales + bottle of red wine........ by then it was well and truly time to turn in.

Up at dawn for the 20min trek to Monkey Mia, we all lined up on the board walk like little soldiers and when the word was given everyone walked a quickly as they could to the waters edge (not allowed to run), well those Germans are quick (kind of like the towel on the sun lounge scenario) It was an overcast morning and a little chilly, though it didn’t seem to deter the wild dolphins as the 9 came into shore for a visit and breakfast. They stayed and eyed off the crowd for approx 40 minutes while we all gooed ‘n’ gaared, then when breakfast was over they were gone! We also got a visit from a baby green turtle and a very persistent Pelican who came along for the ride. By 10am we were back on our way back to Denham where the boys were back in the classroom until 12. After lunch we decided to turn some boxes into toys with the boys, Riley built himself a Car complete with front and rear lights and a Blower on the bonnet, Aiden decided a Bobcat was the go and the building began.

Next day the boys participated in a Circus workshop and parade (which the boys ended up in) and was a main part of the 4 day Shark Bay Fishing Feista.

Mothers Day found us up at the crack of dawn and once again on the way to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins, at first they didn’t arrive and we were left standing around for an hour and half, then I decided to get something from the car................only to return and find the crowd oooing and ahhhing at our grey guests, I managed to find Bell and the boys who were in the middle of the crowd. Then came the time everyone was waiting for, the chance to hand feed one of the dolphins, they feed only 4 female dolphins and then only 5 fish each, to our surprise the first person called was to the gentleman with the red cap and the 2 little boys..... so Bell shoved the camera in my hands, grabbed the boys and was off!, we hot some great shots and it was over in 5 seconds............. her third Mothers Day present (second was a kiss from the boys)

We then went back to Denham for the Kids fishing comp where we caught 3 fish (well more like fish fingers).

We followed the next day with a trip to the Perrion National park and some 4X4 action, on the way we stopped to visit the Wind Turbines which power 30% of Denham’s town site, we also stumbled across 22 furry caterpillars which the boys wanted to bring along for the ride. We saw the Little Lagoon and on the way several baby Emu's and on the 20km track to the Big Lagoon we encountered some huge burms and Ranger Danger at the BBQ's, who spent a good 15 minutes answering all of the boys questions........... Following our busy day Bell and the boys spent the afternoon at the pool while I prepared Greg Malouf's marinated roast lamb (cheers Tom for the recipe) and had a few quiet ales!

The final day found us at Monkey Mia ........ did I mention to see the Wild Dolphins?, the boys and I built the closest thing to a racetrack/open-cut mine ever seen on the beach! We returned to the van and proceed to pack for our next trip to Carnarvon, while I was doing a few things I touched the jacklegs on the van and got electrocuted!!!!.   I switched everything off and called the town electrician, he arrived to find the van had 120VAC live on the chassis, I checked the Caravan power socket to find the RCD  crackling...........needless to say our van was fine when we changed power supplies! We are so lucky as Aiden was telling us there is something under the Caravan biting him, when he was playing hide and seek with his friends!

The boys are loving the slide shows and we are burning them to disc so they can watch them in the car, enjoy Denham and Monkey Mia See you in Carnarvon!